Women's Basketball January 27, 2009 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Roadrunners Unable to Pull Comeback on Mustangs

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Despite a 25 point performance from junior Katie Williams (Las Vegas/Reedley College), the CSUB women's basketball team fell to the Cal Poly Mustangs, 76?67, Tuesday evening in the Icardo Center. The loss drops the CSUB's record to 13?8 while Cal Poly improves to 12?7. Tuesday's loss was the Roadrunners' first loss to a Big West Conference opponent this season (5?1).

Williams was joined in double figures by senior Christine Kepenekian (Burbank HS) who had 16 points. Both players grabbed six rebounds while Williams had a team-high six assists and five steals. CSUB forced 22 Cal Poly turnovers, which led to 27 points, while committing only 13 itself. The main difference in the game proved to come from the charity stripe where the Mustangs, despite taking nine fewer attempts, were almost automatic the entire game. Cal Poly finished 11-for-12 from the line while the ?Runners shot 11-for-21, including a stretch of six consecutive shots in the first half. The Mustangs held a 46?33 rebound advantage and a 48?28 edge in points in the paint.

Things looked promising for the ?Runners in the first half as Williams seemed almost untouchable from beyond the arc, hitting all three of her first half attempts in just under seven minutes. However, she was matched stride for stride by Cal Poly's Kristina Santiago who hit 7-of-12 from the field to lead all scorers in the first half with 15. The ?Runners would build a nine point lead midway through the first half, their largest of the game. But with the help of Santiago's shooting, Cal Poly slowly shrunk the lead to one with just over five minutes to go as Desiray Johnston hit a three pointer. The Mustangs would take the lead for good at 36?33 a few minutes later as Megan Harrison hit a three pointer with 2:55 remaining. Cal Poly led 38?36 at the break.

In the second half, the ?Runners would score four of the first six points to tie the game at 40-40. Cal Poly would build a lead of eight before CSUB fought back to bring the game down to within one at 66?65 as Williams stole the ball at mid court and drove in for an uncontested layup. A 6?0 Cal Poly run with 1:46 left to go sealed the win for the Mustangs as the would score the game's final four points to win, 76?67.

Santiago finished with a game-high 29 points while Megan Harrison had 17 for the Mustangs. Cal Poly shot 46.9 percent from the field and hit 38.5 percent of its three-point attempts. CSUB shot 24-of-36 (38.1%) from the floor and was 8-of-27 (29.6%) from behind the arc.

A rematch of the two programs will take place on February 28 in San Luis Obispo. Up next for the ?Runners will be a 7 p.m. home contest against current Big West leader UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at the Icardo Center.

CAL POLY 76, CSU BAKERSFIELD 67

CAL POLY (12-7)
Santiago 11-19 7-8 29; Harrison 6-10 4-4 17; Tratter 4-11 0-0 8; Burns 2-2 0-0 6; Geppert 3-5 0-0 6; Johnston 2-5 0-0 5; McBride 1-7 0-0 3; Stewart 1-3 0-0 2;
Anderson 0-0 0-0 0; Bloetscher 0-1 0-0 0; Asplund 0-0 0-0 0; Gregersen 0-0 0-0 0; Clancy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-64 11-12 76.

CSU BAKERSFIELD (13-8)
Williams 9-17 3-5 25; Kepenekian 4-12 5-8 16; Belt 4-10 0-0 8; Allen 4-9 0-0 8; Arase 1-9 0-0 3; Leon 0-1 3-4 3; West 1-1 0-0 2; Saso 1-3 0-0 2; Smith 0-1 0-4 0. Totals 24-63 11-21 67.

Cal Poly 38 38 76
CSU Bakersfield 36 31 67

3-point goals--Cal Poly 5-13 (Burns 2-2; Harrison 1-1; McBride 1-5; Johnston 1-4; Tratter 0-1), CSU Bakersfield 8-27 (Williams 4-6; Kepenekian 3-8; Arase 1-7; Leon 0-1; Belt 0-5). A-469

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Players Mentioned

#23 Christine Kepenekian: G; 5' 7"; Senior

#22 Katie Williams: G; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#23 Christine Kepenekian
: 5' 7"; Senior
: G

#22 Katie Williams
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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Roadrunners Unable to Pull Comeback on Mustangs

Players Mentioned

#23 Christine Kepenekian

#22 Katie Williams

Players Mentioned

#23 Christine Kepenekian

#22 Katie Williams